


Moving on

by Bacner



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010)
Genre: AU - crossover, Gen, Magic, Post-Movie, Vampires - freeform, Wolfram & Hart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-15
Updated: 2016-11-15
Packaged: 2018-08-31 03:38:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8562118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bacner/pseuds/Bacner
Summary: Morgana is gone and Maxim Horvath doesn't know what to do. But of course there's always Wolfram & Hart





	

Maxim Horvath was lost. Not so much physically – he knew where he currently was, in Manhattan, New York – but mentally. Merlin was long gone, Morgana le Fay was gone just now but for good, and all that was left behind was he, Veronica, and Balthazar. 

Whatever Maxim felt for Veronica was one thing. What he felt for Balthazar was simple: he could not stand him, and vice versa. Something needed to be done, but now that le Fay was gone for good, Horvath really did not care even about Balthazar anymore, not right now.

“This is almost as bad as being stuck in that doll or the urn,” he muttered as overhead thunder rumbled and rain began to fall. “No... Yes. Almost as bad, but it’s a very skinny almost, hair-thin-”

“Hey, buddy! Yeah, we’re talking to you.”

“Excuse me?” Horvath’s temper was never particularly long lasting, and now that both Morgana and his favorite hat were gone, it was really strained at the moment. “Are you talking to me?”

Anyone with half a brain would be worried by now, but the brutes confronted by Horvath did not have any brain mass at all, not even both of them combined.

“Yeah, we do! Have you ever heard of Wolfram & Hart?”

Now Horvath paused, for that was a familiar name (actually, names) for a while now. “Wolfram & Hart?” he repeated purposefully slow. “Sure. I got their name, have an account with them. I am not their best client, probably not, but still...”

“You have an account with Wolfram & Hart?” the brutes turned from smug to confused. “Really?”

“Yes, really.” The mage was beginning to feel exasperated with his would-be attackers rather than downright angry. Honestly, he had faced wild dogs that were smarter than they were. “Why? Are you working for them?”

The brutes began to mutter between each other; Horvath could faintly hear them, but they were not talking in modern American English for one thing. Then one of them turned back to the mage and spoke:

“Look, why don’t you come with us and talk to the bosses? Menghiz, for one, will probably know how to sort it out.”

And suddenly Horvath was feeling worried after all.

* * *

The NYC office of Wolfram & Hart did not differ that much from their L.A. branch – both were important parts of W&H’s plan of taking over the world. Horvath was aware of that particular plan, but had largely ignored it – being imprisoned in dolls and urns made one see such long-range plans somewhat peculiarly. The knowledge that the world was going to be taken over by Morgana le Fay and her (well, their) forces probably had something to do with that too.

But now Morgana was gone and Horvath was walking through W&H corridors with no particular purpose in his mind to face a vampire shaman who was a rather formidable magician himself. However, when he entered the office he was sent to, whom he met was Drake Stone, his former minion.

“That’s him!” he told the other blonde present in the office. “That’s the man! He’s the one who stabbed me in the back, well – through the back of my neck.”

The other blonde said nothing, but judging by the lack of mirrors in the reception area of the office and the tinted window, the word ‘neck’ struck a chord with her – after all, most vampires prefer to drain blood through it, rather than the armpit or the torso. “You’re Mr. Horvath?” she said in a rather professional-sounding tone.

“That’s me,” the elder magician nodded calmly. “And you are?”

“I’m Harmony Kendall, please wait for a short while – Mr. Menghiz is currently dealing with some other business of his,” the blonde replied and judging by the cold twinkle in her otherwise dead eyes, Maxim’s suspicions of her undeath became a certainty.

“What, you’re going to do nothing?” Drake Stone clearly was not as experienced in dealing with undead and similar entities as Horvath himself was. He was not very experienced with Wolfram & Hart and their staff either, it seemed.

“No,” Harmony Kendall said flatly, turning to glare at him. “Both you and Mr. Horvath are clients of our firm; we prefer to settle arguments between our clients peacefully.”

“And if you can’t, there’s always thick carpeting to absorb blood, or I don’t know Menghiz,” Horvath nodded sagely. 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Harmony Kendall said in an utterly fake tone. “Oh, and there is Mr. Menghiz! Come on in, sir...” 

Harmony trailed away. It was not because Menghiz really did come in into the office – grey-haired, grey-moustached, golden-eyed, and looking like nothing else in the world but a solemn hooded crow – but that wasn’t the reason why. The reason why was Menghiz’s companion – tall and stately, looking like a textbook Aryan warrior.

“Herr Heinrich Nest,” Horvath got up. “It’s been a while since we talked – I heard that you’ve been finally destroyed – and by a Vampire Slayer too!”

“I was,” the smile of the vampire was really just a friendly snarl. “But that’s why I am the Vampire Master – I always come back.”

If it was any other vampire, Maxim would have assumed that they were bragging and lying – but in this case? Nest was telling the truth.

“Mr. Menghiz? Um, we’re here because of me,” Drake Stone spoke up, feeling clearly uncomfortable now. That was natural; any mage would be uncomfortable, facing three vampires in a closed space, where it is hard to fling spells before you got him with something heavy and material yourself.

“That we are,” Menghiz nodded sagely. “And hello to you too, Maxim.”

“Hello, Menghiz, sorry for skipping you over – I did not expect to encounter Heinrich here.”

“It happens,” Menghiz nodded sagely. “Now you and Mr. Stone here have had a conflict?”

“He killed me!” the younger magician said rather shrilly.

“It happens... Maxim, are you back on your resurrecting Morgana plan?”

“Not anymore,” Horvath sobered up even further. “The Merlinians have finished what their mas-ter had started, le Fay is gone.”

“Seriously?” For once in his undeath, Menghiz was staring. 

“Yes.” Maxim gave him a look, indicating that that was the end of that particular topic.

“Well then, moving on to compensation for Mr. Stone’s loss. Any chance you’ll do public service to compensate for your indiscretion?”

“I don’t see why not,” the elder magician nodded, his mood somber once more now that he mentioned Morgana’s final defeat aloud.

“Splendid! That covers your fine, and Mr. Stone? Your agreement to work for us for the next little while – unofficially, of course – covers your fee, as we agreed beforehand. Have a good evening!”

Stone just stared. Horvath, who knew that whenever Menghiz was in a good mood, a bloodbath would follow shortly afterwards, grabbed him by the arm and dragged him out of the office, leaving the vampires to sort things out between themselves...

* * *

“That was majorly bogus and not what I wanted!” Drake Stone began to speak as soon as the pair was in his limo.

“It happens,” Horvath shrugged as the pair drove back to Stone’s grandiose residence. “Vampires are always self-serving, and while most of them are not particularly intelligent, all of them are truly cunning.”

“I don’t know. I have met both Menghiz and his secretary several times in the past and neither of them appeared to be particularly stupid, even if Harmony is a bit of an airhead sometime. And is it just me, or does she resemble the new guy, Nest, just a little bit? Does it mean that they’re in the same family or something?”

“It does,” Horvath frowned. W&H generally tried to keep the vampires out of management, and here he and Drake were faced with three that were in the management instead. Considering that the vampires tended to grow their number with a speed of parasitic wasps set amok among some particularly juicy and nutritious caterpillars, this was worrisome. The fact that at least two of them apparently belonged to the 'illustrious' line of Aurelius was even worse. And, of course, the fact that he, Maxim Horvath, got dragged along the whatever plan the vampires was making was just disturbing, but now that Morgana was gone for good? Why not? Nothing like dealing with deadly backstabbing vampires to start blood flowing once more, and after being stuck in dolls and urns and the like, Horvath could use a good intrigue of a workout. 

Of course, there was also Drake Stone to consider, but for now the younger mage was unlikely to attack or to backstab, so things were looking up all the same.

And so, leaning back, Maxim Horvath smiled for the first time since he arrived in the 21st century. Overhead, thunder rumbled and lightning flashed – right on cue. The first and greatest of Morganian wizards was back to his old self once more.

End


End file.
